Memory game apparatus



May 4, 1965 A. F. DREYER MEMORY GAME APPARATUS Filed Jan. 14

INVENTOR ALLEN F. DREYER fizyy fw END FIE| E A TTORNE vs United StatesPatent 3,181,867 MEMORY GAME APPARATUS Allen F. Dreyer, Richmond,Calif., assignor to Universal Research, Berkeley, Calif., a partnershipFiled Jan. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 251,079 8 Claims. (Cl. 273-131) Thepresent invention relates to improvements in a game and particularly toa game requiring concentration by the players which is particularlysuitable for a plurality of players or teams.

Games which utilize a playing board or apparatus together with aplurality of playing pieces are well known and have been eminentlysuccessful in providing many hours of amusement and fun to peopleeverywhere. In general, games of this nature are particularly successfulwhen the elements of luck and skill are combined so as to provide anadvantage to the most skillful player and yet allow the less skilledplayer an opportunity to win an occasional game. The skill factor isusually determined by the manner in which the player carries out thevarious procedures open to him within the framework of the game, and theluck element may be through the casting of dice, drawing of a card, orthe operation of a spinner or other device which determines the amountof or the type of play open to the player on his turn. The degree ofluck utilized and complexity of the game together with the skill of theplayers will vary with different games so that certain games are bestsuited for different age brackets or skill of the players.

The present invention provides a game of the above mentioned characterwhich introduces an additional skill factor in the form of memory, andthus provides a possibility for three elements in determining thewinner. A particular advantage of the game of the present inventionresides in the possible variation of plays or different games that maybe played by the same apparatus in which the relative importance of thedifferent elements mentioned above may vary. In other words, it ispossible to provide a game in which the element of luck is completelyeliminated, if desired, and the winner is determined by the manner inwhich he plays together with his ability to remember prior plays made asthe most important factor. Of course, he may use various systems of playwhen it is his turn in order to establish a code or other aid to hismemory in remembering the prior plays and to confuse his opponent.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention toprovide a game utilizing a playing board or the like apparatus togetherwith a plurality of playing pieces in which the ability to make accurateplays and thereby improve the chances of winning is determined by theability to remember all of the plays that have already been made duringthe course of the game.

Another object of the invention is to provide a game of the characterdescribed in which a playing board is provided that hides certain of thepreceding plays so that these plays must be committed to memory in orderto secure an advantage, with the player best able to remember thesehidden plays being the most likely player to win the game.

A further object of the invention is to provide a game containing anapparatus or board having a plurality of containers for holding aplurality of playing balls in each container thereof in lineal alignmenttogether with means for masking the view of the playing pieces so thatonly the last piece played in a particular container may be seen and theknowledge of how many pieces have been played in each container shouldbe remembered by the player.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a game apparatus ofthe character described in which a plurality of different games ofvarious difliculty may be played according to the desire and ability ofthe competing players.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent asthe specification proceeds, and the new and useful features of myinvention will be fully defined in the claims hereto attached.

The preferred forms of my invention are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing forming a part of this description, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of the playing apparatusconstructed according to the invention together with an illustration ofcertain of the playing pieces and a die that may be used in accordancewith the invention;

FIGURE 2, a plan view of the apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 1, butcontaining a special mask which is especially suitable for a specificgame to be described in detail hereinafter;

FIGURE 3, a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 33 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4, an enlarged top view of a preferred form of container utilizedin the apparatus constructed according to the invention.

While I have shown only the preferred forms of my invention, it shouldbe appreciated that various changes or modifications may be made withinthe scope of the claims hereto attached, without departing from thespirit of the invention. I

In its broad aspect, the game of this invention comprises a playingboard or apparatus and a plurality of playing pieces capable'of fittinginto containers provided on the playing board. The playing board orapparatus is preferably flattened out and has a suiiicient depth to holda plurality of playing pieces in aligned vertical relation. For example,a typical playing board will be about three inches high or thick. Thetop of the playing board structure presents a pattern of holes which mayvary considerably in number, but there must be at least a plurality ofholes and preferably a number greater than three. A typical game such asthat illustrated in the drawing contains 16 holes arrangedsymmetrically. As will be seen, the number of holes provided isproportional to the degree of memory required in playing the game sothat a beginner or childs model may have a smaller number of holes, anda regulation game may contain 16 holes while an advanced or experts gamecould contain more than 16 holes.

The playing pieces are constructed to fit into the holes and in apreferred form the playing pieces are spherical wooden balls. In such acase, the holes are preferably circular and represent the open top of atube or a cylindrical container of the proper size to receive theplaying pieces. The playing board or apparatus also contains meansassociated with the container for holding the balls at the opening ofthe tube in a yieldable manner so that the balls may be forced down intothe container or allowed to set with substantially half is diameterprotruding from the top of the hole in the playing board.

Thus as the balls are played into the containers in the playing board,the first ball is inserted in the hole and remains visibly in place atthe top of the container. When a second ball is played in the same hole,the first ball is pushed down into the tube, and the second ball is thenheld in position the same as the first ball was. In a typical form, athird and fourth ball can then be played into the same tube, but whenfour balls are in the tube the container is full with the bottom ballresting on the bottom of the playing apparatus. Thus any attempt to playanother ball in the full tube will meet with firm resistance.

Although I perfer to utilize containers which hold four balls, it willbe appreciated that the containers can be designed to hold any number ofballs so long as there s19 is provision to hold a plurality of balls andthe last ball is held at its opening. Once again, the size of thecontainer will serve to provide for games of more or less complexity,and I have found that containers which hold four balls are eminentlysuitable.

When the game is being played, it is difficult to re 'member the numberof balls played in the holes unless the play is very carefully watchedand a sutficient number of plays remembered to give a player anadvantage. When an attempt is made to play a ball into a hole and thehole is full, a player loses his turn and thus loses time in hisobjective of playing all his pieces. This is the basis for the game andprovides the memory factor described above.

Methods of play can be Worked out by the players to aid in rememebringwhich tubes are full. For example, the player may make his play tofollow a particular design code known only to himself to aid his memory.This may be accomplished by relating the full tubes by diagonal factorsor the next move in fact. The design of the playing board is importantin this respect, and so are the colors of the playing balls whenmulticolored playing balls are used. In such a case, the player mightattempt to fill up outside holes with green balls and inside holes withred balls or some other aid in remembering open or closed tubes orcontainers. A variety of games may be played so that the short games orlong games may be provided as well as games ranging in difiiculty fromthose having fairly simple to those having fairly difiicult memoryproblems.

Certain specific examples of games will be given herein for the purposeof illustration, but it will be appreciated that other games could beprovided within the scope of the invention. Example 1 below illustratesthe basic game, in which the luck factor is reduced substantially to aminimum with the exception of the advantage of playing first.

Example 1 Playing pieces of 64 balls are used with the playing apparatushaving 16 containers, each capable of holding four balls as described indetail hereinafter. Four colors are used with even distribution. Inother words, there are 16 red, 16 green, 16 blue and 16 yellow balls.The balls are evenly divided among the players, and the first player ischosen by high throw of the single die provided with each game or anyother suitable choosing means. When three players are playing the game,the odd ball is placed in any opening before play starts so that eachplayer has the same number of balls.

The object of the game is to be the first to play 7 all balls in hispossession with the players playing in regu lar rotation one ball at atime. Thus the first player places the ball into any opening where itremains with its upper half protruding from the board. The second playermay then play a ball into any other opening or in the same opening thatthe first player used. When a second abll is placed in the container,the ball being played is placed on top of one already in the opening,and pushed down until it remains in the same position that the firstball occupied. In this case, the ball already held at the top of theopening drops down into the container. If or when a player attempts toplace a ball in a full container (into a container which already hasfour balls) the ball will not go in. Then the player must keep the bailand lose his turn. As the game progresses and players forget what hasbeen played, the fun increases.

It has been found that in the game illustrated the player generallygains an advantage by remembering the condition of more than half of thecontainers or more than one fourth of the containers if four players arecompeting.

A typical example of a playing apparatus constructed according to theinvention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanyingrawings. As here shown,

the game comprises a playing board or apparatus 11 having a playingsurface 12 in the form of a mask fitting on a plastic unit 13 which fitsinto a box 14. The various units are held in position in the box bymeans of a frame 16 which fits tightly but removably on the box as bestsnown in FIGURE 3. If desired, temporary holding mean may be provided tohold the frame 16 in place during the game, but the frame should beremovable so that the plastic unit 13 can be lifted out of the box andthe various playing pieces recovered easily.

The various components of the apparatus and playing pieces may beconstructed of a variety of materials such as plastic or wood. I havefound that a particularly satisfactory unit may be constructed byutilizing wood for the box 14- and the frame 16, transparent plastic forthe unit 13 and paper for the mask 12. When the upper surface of theplastic unit 13 is opaque, it is possible to dispense with the paperplaying surface 12. However, the game is generally provided with aplurality of playing surfaces such as the surface 12 shown in FIGURE 1and the surface 12a illustrated in FIGURE 2. In this way, a large numberof playing surfaces may be provided for different types of games. Inaddition, it is possible to change the geometric configuration byutilizing a mask 12 which covers up certain of the holes to provide adifferent geometric configuration. For example, if the holes at the fourcorners are covered up by a mask, the present apparatus provides aplaying surface in the form of a cross.

The unit 13 may also be constructed in a variety of Ways, but it musthave means for holding a plurality of playing pieces in lineal alignmenttogether with releasable holding means for holding a playing piece at anopening of the container at the playing surface. In addition, theapparatus should be constructed so that the playing pieces may be easilyremoved for replay. These objectives may be achieved by a number ofdifferent designs including containers having regular bottoms togetherwith other means for removing the playing pieces. For example, springretaining means could be used which could be released as a group toallow the balls to return outward or any other mechanical devices couldbe designed to provide the above mentioned functions.

In the preferred form, a plurality of cylindrical or tubular shapedplastic pieces or containers 17 are provided and these are welded orfastened by a suitable adhesive to a plastice plate 18 having holes 1stherein for receiving the plastic tubes 17. The tubes 17 are constructedof substantially the same length so that the plastic unit 13 may rest onthe bottom of the box 14, and the hei ht is preferably such that frame16 holds the entire unit firmly together.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawing, each plastictube 17 contains three slotted portions 21 lying substantially in thesame plane and holding an elastic member 22. As best seen in FIGURE 4,the elastic member 22 extends within the cylindrical plastic tube 17 insymmetrical fashion to provide a good firm releasabie holding means forthe playing pieces.

When the container for the playing pieces is substantially tubular asshown in the preferred embodiment, the playing pieces 23 are preferablyspherical balls of such dimensions that they slide easily through thetube but are adapted to rest on the elastic member 22. If desired, theplaying pieces can come in different lengths so that not all of theplaying pieces are alike. For example, two or three of the balls couldbe permanently adhered together in lineal fashion so that such a playingpiece would occupy a plurality of positions and might be played as thefirst play for a given hole and add additional confusion or difficultyin remembering for the players.

In the apparatus here described, players can hear the balls drop intothe bottom of the box, but this generally does not provide a sufficienthint to be of any value. If desired, means may be provided to preventthis hint such as a cushioned bottom for the box 14, or by providingadditional holding means throughout the length of the container so thatthe balls are also held in intermediate positions.

Alternative devices can be used to releasably hold the balls, ifdesired. For example, the tube may be lined with a layer of spongerubber or plastics, spring devices may be fastened in the outside of thetube presenting a slidable device through the holes in the tube, orelaborate units may be provided in which individual units would hold allthe balls and release them all at once after the game is ended.

The apparatus shown in the drawing is preferred because it iscomparatively simple in construction and efficient in operation. In thisconnection, it should be noted that the slots 21 are made in a halfV-shape to allow the elastic member 22 to move down and out forreleasing the balls and for returning the elastic member to properposition. A slot constructed in other forms is likely to cause theelastic to bind. Specifically, the top of the slot is parallel with thetop of the tube as shown in FIG- URE 3 and the bottom of the slot slantsdown at about a 45 degree angle as shown by surface 24. With thisconstruction, the ball may he accidentally pushed a little too far intothe tube and it will return to the proper position.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the manner in which the balls are held by theelastic member 22 and stacked up when the containers are full. Thus thetube 17 at the left-hand side of FIGURE 3 illustrates how two balls arepositioned in the tube as they are played. In other words, one ballrests upon the bottom of the box 14 while the other ball is held withinthe entrance opening of the container by the elastic member 22. At theright-hand side, a full tube is illustrated by the balls shown inphantom, and it is seen that any attempt to play another ball will beunsuccessful. Thus the full tube and the tube having room for two moreballs present exactly the same appearance from the top of the playingsurface so that the tubes may only be identified by their position inthe playing surface or to some extent by the color of the balls at thetop thereof.

From the foregoing description, it is seen that the apparatusillustrated in the drawing is suitable for playing the game describedabove. In addition, it is also suitable for playing other games asillustrated by the additional examples which are given below.

Example 2 This example illustrates a game played according to theinvention which I have entitled Color Dice. The game is the same as thebasic game illustrated in Example 1 above except that a throw of specialColor Dice controls the number of balls played and the holes playedtherein. The game combines luck and skill. In this game, one or morecolor dice are used such as the die 26 which is a typical cube havingeach of the six faces colored with colors corresponding to those of theballs being played. Each face may contain a single color or a pair ofcolors and the number of dice used may be varied. The board used is onecontaining a mask or layout such as 12a which contains indicia forindicating the various colors. In other words, red area 27 is providedaround 4 holes, green area 28 is provided around 4.0ther holes, bluearea 29 is provided around still 4 other holes, and yellow area 31 isprovided around each of the remaining 4 holes.

In the play, the first player rolls a colored die or dice. If a singlecolor turns up, the player plays one ball in any of the 4 holes showingthe color rolled. If 2 colors turn up, the player plays the ball in eachof the two holes showing the colors turned up on the color die or dice.As in the basic game, players must try to remember which holes are full.If an attempt is made to play a ball in a full hole, the player mustkeep the ball and lose a turn. The first player to play all of hisplaying pieces wins the game.

Example 3 Another game which may be played in accordance with thisinvention is the game herein designated as Spot Dice. The game is thesame as the basic game and the Color Dice game described above exceptthat regulation dice are used. In other words, dice are used which havenumbered indicia from one to six on each of the six faces as in standardcubical dice. Once again the game combines luck and skill, and thesingle die controls the number of balls played.

In the play, the first player rolls the die and notices the number thatturns up. This number determines the number of balls the player mayplay, and they may be played in any of the holes in the playing board.As the game progresses and the player attempts to play a ball in a fullhole he does not lose his turn, but must keep the ball or it could notbe played. For example, if a player rolls a 5 he may play the first ballas one of the 5, and if a second is played into a full hole, he mustkeep that ball, but can go on and play the remaining 3 balls, ifpossible. Again the first player to play all of his playing pieces winsthe game.

Example 4 This example illustrates a game which I identify as Follow Me,and this game also utilizes a mask such as mask 1201 which indicates astarting position and has a line drawn from there throughout the entireboard. In this game, each player plays one ball in turn as in the otherforms of the game; the winner is the person to play all of his playingpieces first.

However, in Follow Me the first player must play a ball in the firsthole marked Start. Second player then has a choice of playingin thefirst or second hole following the heavy black lines around the board.First player then has a choice of playing a hole that has been played inor in the empty hole following the line. Neither player can play morethan one empty hole past those already played at any time. The game isvery fast and much skill is required to confuse the opponent inremembering enough of the previous plays to win the game.

From the various games illustrated in the examples given above, it isseen that many types of games or varieties of plays are provided by thisinvention, and that all of these games provide amusement through the useof the skill factor based on memory. In addition, the play factor isinvolved whereby each player may utilize his own play in such a way asto follow a"systern or particular code so as to provide him an advantagein regard to remembering the condition of the'varilous playing areas. Itis also seen that games may be provided in which the luck factor ispresent in various degrees.

From all the foregoing description, it is seen that I have provided agame of concentration capable of providing many hours of amusement forthe players regardless of their ages or skills.

I claim:

1. A game comprising a board having a playing surface equipped with aplurality of openings, a plurality of containers adjacent to the playingsurface each having an open end in alignment with an opening in theplaying surface, each of said containers having walls constructed tohold a plurality of playing pieces in lineal alignment, and holdingmeans on each container for releasably holding a playing piece at theopening of the playing surface, each of said holding means comprisingaplurality of slots in the container and an elastic member fitting insaid slots and extending into the container at one end thereof.

2. The game defined in claim 1, in which masks are provided to vary thedesign of the playing surface.

3. A game comprising a board having a playing surface equipped with aplurality of openings, a plurality of tubular containers attached to theplaying surface with an end of each tube being open and corresponding toan opening in the board, a plurality of balls of a size sufiicient tofit closely Within said tubular containers, each of said tubularcontainers constructed to hold a plurality of said balls in linealalignment, and holding means on each container for releasably holding aball at an opening in the board, each of said holding means comprising aplurality of slots extending through the walls of the tube at one endthereof and an elastic member fitting within said slots.

4. The game defined in claim 3, in which masks are provided to vary thedesign of the playing surface.

5. The game defined in claim 3, in which the slots have lower surfacesextending at about a 45 degree angle with respect to the walls of thecontainers.

6. A game, comprising a box having a bottom, a unit remcvably fittingWithin the box containing a board having a playing surface equipped witha plurality of openings, a plurality of tubular containers open at bothends, each of said tubular containers being attached to the playingsurface with one open end of each tube corresponding to an opening inthe board and the other open end fitting adjacent to the bottom of thebox, a plurality of balls of a size sufiicient to fit closely withinsaid tubular containers, each of said tubular containers constructed tohold a plurality of said balls in lineal alignment, and holding means oneach container for releasably holding a ball at an opening in the board,each of said holding means constructed to support a ball thereon whilein normal position and releasable by application of a force in excess ofthe weight of the ball to allow the ball to be pushed therethrough andinto the associated container.

7. The game defined in claim 6, in which sixteen tubular containers areprovided and each container is constructed to hold four balls.

8. A game comprising a board having a playing surface equipped with aplurality of openings, a plurality of tubular containers attached tothe'playing surface at the openings in the board, said tubes being openat both ends whereby playing pieces may be inserted into each containerfrom its corresponding opening in the board and removed therefromthrough the opposite opening in the container, closure means relativelymovable with respect to the containers for closing the ends opposite theends attached to the playing surface, a plurality of balls of a sizesutlicient to fit closely within said tubular containers, and holdingmeans on each container for releasably holding a ball at an opening inthe board, each of said holding means constructed to support a ballthereon while in normal position and releasable by application of aforce in excess of the weight of the ball to allow the ball to be pushedtherethrough and into the associated container.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 540,268 6/95Newell 461 3,014,727 12/61 Myers 273-l 3,101,947 8/63 Dzuris 273-136 XFOREIGN PATENTS 47,073 5/ 89 Germany.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

8. A GAME COMPRISING A BOARD HAVING A PLAYING SURFACE EQUIPPED WITH APLURALITY OF OPENINGS, A PLURALITY OF TUBULAR CONTAINERS ATTACHED TO THEPLAYING SURFACE AT THE OPENINGS IN THE BOARD, SAID TUBES BEING OPEN ATBOTH ENDS WHEREBY PLAYING PIECES MAY BE INSERTED INTO EACH CONTAINERFROM ITS CORRESPONDING OPENING IN THE BOARD AND REMOVED THEREFROMTHROUGH THE OPPOSITE OPENING IN THE CONTAINER, CLOSURE MEANS RELATIVELYMOVABLE WITH RESPECT TO THE CONTAINERS FOR CLOSING THE ENDS OPPOSITE THEENDS ATTACHED TO THE PLAYING SURFACE, A PLURALITY OF BALLS OF A SIZESUFFICIENT TO FIT CLOSELY WITHIN SAID TUBULAR CONTAINERS, AND HOLDINGMEANS ON EACH CONTAINER FOR RELEASABLY HOLDING A BALL AT AN OPENING INTHE BOARD THEREON SAID HOLDING MEANS CONSTRUCTED TO SUPPORT A BALLTHEREON WHILE IN NORMAL POSITION AND RELEASABLE BY APPLICATION OF AFORCE IN EXCESS OF THE WEIGHT OF THE BALL TO ALLOW THE BALL TO BE PUSHEDTHERETHROUGH AND INTO THE ASSOCIATED CONTAINER.